Bell: Good ol' boy network still exists in NFL

Jan. 21, 2013
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Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith looks on prior to the game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Smith was fired at the end of the season and didn't get a new head-coaching job. / Matt Kartozian, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

by Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports

The convincing victory Sunday by the Baltimore Ravens didn't merely clinch an AFC title. It also kept a streak intact: For the seventh consecutive Super Bowl, at least one of the teams will have a minority head coach or general manager. This time, it's Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome.

The streak began when Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith became the first African-American head coaches to compete in a Super Bowl, and has been kept alive by the likes of Mike Tomlin, Jerry Reese, Jim Caldwell and Rod Graves. The streak is worth noting, especially as NFL minority coaches and executives shudder at The Big Shutout.

The just-completed hiring cycle filled eight head-coaching slots and seven GM jobs, and it was a complete whitewash. Not a single person of color was hired, which is how it was in the 1950s and '60s. So, the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a watchdog group that monitors and promotes minority hiring, on Tuesday will propose:

Expanding the Rooney Rule to include team presidents, offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators and assistant head coaches. (There would be an exception for a new head coach who wants to bring in his own coordinator. But if a position opens up under an existing coach, the rule applies.)

Reinstitution of coaching and management symposiums, which once helped minority candidates with career training and networking.

Cyrus Mehri, co-founder and legal counsel for Alliance, told USA TODAY Sports: "This hiring cycle is a wakeup call for how tenacious the good ol' boy network is, and why we need to work so hard to level the playing field so there's fair competition."

The shutout is a shameful way for the NFL to mark the 10th anniversary of the Rooney Rule, instituted to open doors for minority candidates. Sure, each team that hired a coach complied with the rule and interviewed at least one minority candidate, but that doesn't explain how Andy Reid become a hot commodity after a freefall as the Philadelphia Eagles coach. Reid wasn't merely hired by the Kansas City Chiefs to coach; he was given full authority over personnel.

With such clout in Philadelphia, Reid's so-called Dream Team fizzled. Reid had Michael Vick, but was pretty much the anti-Shanahan, unable to craft a system that extracted the best out of him this season.

Smith, fired by second-year Chicago Bears GM Phil Emery after winning 10 games - a sign Emery was looking to dump a coach he inherited, rather than working with him - interviewed for two of the vacancies.

Guess his timing was bad. Seven of the new coaches had offensive backgrounds, and the word is that teams are looking for points production in the pass-happy NFL. Never mind that the best coach in the league, Bill Belichick, has defensive roots. And the coach who beat Belichick on Sunday, John Harbaugh, was a special teams coordinator.

Tomlin, Rex Ryan, Marvin Lewis, Pete Carroll, Jim Schwartz all have defensive roots. If you can coach and lead men, it doesn't matter. And think of all the offensive geniuses who flamed out as head coaches.

Newsome, meanwhile, told me the other night that he was baffled Caldwell didn't get a single interview. Working with the low-keyed Caldwell, Newsome has learned why Peyton Manning used to swear by his position coach.

There were roughly 50 interviews granted for head-coaching jobs. Rob Chudzinski got a job. Maybe the super cool, former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator will become the next Bill Walsh with the Cleveland Browns. Or maybe he turns out like Marty Mornhinweg or Chris Palmer.

What happened in Carolina's search for GM was strange, too. Marc Ross, the New York Giants' college scouting director was passed over for Dave Gettleman, who also worked for the Giants - and had scaled back to a part-time role. But he got the GM gig. Makes me wonder.

No doubt, this hiring cycle prompted much head-scratching. Is there real opportunity or lip service? While there are case-by-case examples, when the dots are connected, the playing field isn't level, and like society at large, some doors are kept closed, just because.

You'll hear a lot about filling the pipeline with offensive coordinators, and that's one key to bolstering candidates. But Reid, remember, jumped to the Eagles years ago from a job as Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach. These "rules" are not set in stone.

In any event, the Colts hired Pep Hamilton to replace Bruce Arians as offensive coordinator. He and Caldwell are the only African-American offensive play callers in the league.

It wasn't too long ago when some thought there was no longer a need for the Rooney Rule. Yet after the second shutout for minority hires since the rule was implemented, the need remains.

Diversity is a valuable asset for winning. And sometimes, the best candidate doesn't emerge until there's an open mind in approaching the process.